Would you still hate AFFC if there was no five-year gap?

[Fat Mac]

Yes, I would still hate it. The chapters involving the Blackfish and Riverrun were good, but other than that I thought it was a pointless book which did nothing to move the plot forward.

I can't stand Cersei, Jaime and Sansa were boring, Brienne made me want to throw the book away, the Iron born chapters were deadly dull and I could not care less about Dorne. Least favourite settings combined with least favourite characters made it the worst book in the series for me. The handful of Arya chapters were not enough.

I still can't make myself reread AFfC. Reading it once will have to do and hopefully remember any important stuff from this book that happens to be relevant later on.

Well your opinion is your opinion, but I'll say, and many will agree, that FfC is much better on a reread.

And how did it not move the plot forward? It introduced two new players to the game (Ironborn, Dorne), that will have future relevance, me thinks mostly in WoW.

It set up the future of the Vale storyline with Sansa. The Vale is the largest untapped force in Westeros.

It set up Cersei's spiral into craziness and the huge mess she makes in KL. This will be very important likely for when Aegon arrives.

It set up the Citadel and the Oldtown storyline, which might be very important in the future.

FfC (along with DwD) was a book that transitioned the first part of the series (GoT-SoS) to the second part of the series (WoW-DoS)

[Jrogo]

I actually really like AFFC! Before I started reading it I read a lot about how people didn't like it so I was worried, but once I started I found it so interesting and really good. I missed Bran chapters and such, but it was still very good.

I suppose if I was one of those people who were waiting years for it to come out though...idk idk what I would have thought

[Tim Stark]

I didn't hate it but I didn't care for most of the P.O.V.'s. Can't really say if the 5 year gap would've changed my opinion, mainly because we don't really know how the gap would have affected the characters. That being said I think GRRM should have stuck with it, if we were lucky it might have gotten rid of all the Meereen crap in DwD.

[Ser Underline]

Being a show watcher and having read the books in like a two months timespan: AFfC seemed dull at first with all these new characters, tho i loved Hotah's POVs. And Victarions aswell, even Sansa started being much much better. And not to mention Jaime and Cersei. Only minus was stupidish Brienne.

Out of all 5 books it was so-to-speak the least entertaining one. But it's also the only one i've picked up again and read in english (not my mother's tongue) and really enjoyed it. Now sitting on 2nd place below SoS. :D

[Dagon Blackiron]

i love affc, great book many good things in it(and yes i love the iron islander chapters, even all of aerons). anyway, i just picked them all up this year and read them in 5 month, so i didnt had the 5 year gap.

[The Witch King of Braavos]

Alot of people on here seem to hate AFFC, but would you still despise it if it came out MUCH earlier than it did?

AFFC is arguably my favourite book, along with ACOK. Fortunately I only discovered ASOIAF in 2012, so no five year wait for me luckily. I love the Ironborn and Dornish factor, and found the Kings Landing plot great. The POV's were great, with the exception of Brienne, who was still good.

[Chun-Li]

I liked it the least but I didn't hate it. If it came out a lot earlier it would have probably had the five-year gap in the story and it would have been a much different book than the one we have.

[Fightbringer]

i dont hate aFfC, its my least favourite of the books by a bit, but its still a very good book, especially upon second reading. I think what i say is similar to the position most people on this forum would take. I do think, however, it would've been better to stick with the whole chronological thing rather than making it georgraphical, which resulted in aDwD getting most of the best characters and plotlines.

[Veltigar]

AFFC is my favorite

[Jon of the Dead]

It may get better on re-reads, but in my opinion that's hardly a good thing to say about a book

My thoughts on aFfC are better sumed up in this phrase from a review:

"This was finally It, we thought. The One. The fantasy series to end all fantasy series. Then came A Feast for Crows."

[Jon's Queen Consort]

But... I don't hate Feast :leaving:

[grand old duke of stark]

The wait was especially hard on me because I discovered the series when SoS was published and quickly consumed the first three books. And waited and waited and waited. It was truly a case of famine after a feast. (pun intended).

I still put that book above DoD because it at least focuses on Westeros. There was a lot of aimless wandering (and almost aimless writing) in FfC, but I find the stalling in DoD and the emphasis on Essos are very offputting. I do hope that D&D find a way to condense and combine those two books on the telly programme.

One good thing about the 5-year wait: it trained us all to be patient, so that with any luck WoW will seem like a speedy release.

[Ser Pounce FTW]

I don't hate AFFC but it would be interesting to see the children 5 years older.

[Goodbye World]

By the five year gap do you mean the time between the release of SoS and FfC or the five year gap that GRRM intended to have after the end of SoS? Because I see people have answered to both.

[Rhymes with Weak]

Some people didn't like it because it had a lack of Jon and the other major characters in it, which funnily enough is why I found it refreshing.

[Stannis Eats No Peaches]

I don't hate AFfC, not by a long shot. Besides, I started reading shortly before ADwD was released.

[TheMysteriousOne]

AFFC was the weakest book of the series, but I harbor no hatred for it. It was a good book, and I really enjoyed almost every POV in the book, except Aeron and Brienne (I enjoyed her chapters, but not her). Brienne is boring, but her chapters were excellent, IMO. However, I missed Dany, Jon and even Tyrion.

[Castellan]

I liked a Feast for Crows, especially its morbid title. Its true it didn't move as fast as the previous ones. A Dance for Dragons is the heaviest going and hardest to read plus the duplicate time frame makes the whole thing hard to get your head around.

[Queen‍‍‍‍‍‍ Alysanne‍‍™]

I enjoyed the book on my first read, especially Sam and Cersei chapters.

[Lady of Long Lake]

ADwD is my least favorite of the series,

Hate is a very strong word. Even if I consider AFFC and ADWD to be a notch below the previous three books, t

I wouldn't say I hated any of the books- maybe a little disappointed with ADwD,

The first time I read ADWD, it was my least favorite book in the series. On second reading, it became my favorite book because three story lines were brilliantly written. Have you folks that were disappointed reread ADWD a second time? If not, just read Theon's chapters in a row, and then Davos's, and then Jon's.

I loved AFFC. Jaime and Sam's chapters were the most enjoyable for me. I loved seeing Arya safe and adapting like a chameleon. I loved Brienne's storyline but it was painful to read a few of her chapters ( Biter, Tarly and others mistreating her). The Quiet Isle chapter was simply beautiful- the dialogue, the setting, the characters.